Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for Absence

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

The minutes of the Joint Archives Committee held on 5 November 2020 were submitted and accepted as a true record.

AGREED- That the minutes be approved.

The Archives Manager will present the budget report to the Committee.

The Manager of Teesside Archives submitted a report to update members on the outturn of the 2020-21 revenue budget for Teesside Archives and to seek approval for the proposed budget for 2021-22.

The report outlined that the the budget for the current financial year was on target, the income target has been met and the main item of expenditure had been on conservation supplies to protect material in light of the proposed move to different premises. The 2021-22 budget was currently in draft form, but assumes that the service will stay at its current location, so there are no major changes.

Members should note that the figures include the ‘support costs’ which are paid on an equal basis and therefore do not reflect the population figures accurately.

ORDERED

1.     That members note the expenditure on the 2020-21 budget.

2.     That members approve the proposed budget for 2021-22. (Appendix A of the report)

REASON

The decisions were supported by the following reason:

In order to set the budget for the 2021-22 financial year to enable the service to operate.

The Director of Regeneration and Culture will provide a verbal update in respect to the proposed move of the Archives and the Archives Manager will provide a general overview of the service.

The Director of Regeneration and Culture outlined to the committee that over the past few meetings there had been discussion regarding the alternative arrangements of the Joint archives buildings.

The options for relocating the archives have been explored on a number of occasions, as TNA have increased the pressure to act, and the building’s condition has deteriorated.

The Director advised that they were nearly in the position to issue members with a report outlining viable options.

There was an option of commercial storage, and the report would propose the following:

1.      Teesside Archives essentially comprises two functions – a ‘back end’ for storing archive material, and a ‘front end’ service that provides public access. To provide a workable solution in the short to medium term, it is accepted that these two functions need to be provided separately.

Front End

The staff who run the Archives provide a range of services including supporting people to access the stock, cataloguing and highlighting what is held, promoting the history of the areas, and restoring damaged or vulnerable materials. It is proposed to move all existing staff to the Dorman Museum which would also enable greater connection to be made between Teesside Archives and the wider history of the area.

Back End

It is proposed that the 700 cubic metres of storage required for the archive be provided through a commercial storage operation, moving the stock into space run by the private sector in Spennymoor. The national company was called Re-store. They will offer high end storage, under the highest of conditions. Most do not require this high end storage , however the option is available.

There would be a monthly amount send to and from storage, however customers can request documents as they wish and they would be retrieved,

This was a temporary solution but would be in place for a number of years.

The Director advised that Middlesbrough Council was still pursuing options with Heritage Lottery Scheme to build a larger Archives store within the larger Dorman Museum development plan so it was hoped that the front and end back of the service would be remerged in the future.

The option is a 5- 10 year option.

The money which the Councils would need to commit is equivalent to the money which would be saved not having Archives in Exchange house so would be cost neutral. Retrieval costs would add additional cost, however we would be able to charge for this. The National archives has however set out a guide of what can charged for.

Further details and costs associated would be fully detailed within the formal, Executive report.

AGREED

That the update be noted and that the Committee be circulated with the formal report in due course.

Any other urgent items which in the opinion of the Chair, may be considered.

Digital Assets and Accrediation

A Board member queried what that latest position was in relation to digital assets and accreditation. In response, the Archives Manager outlined that there was still a cost associated with digitising documents but this needed to be done correctly, including a digital archives system, which would have additional cost.

Digital would cover a wider scope, not just archives. The officer outlined that all members would be aware of the Museum National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) (however Darlington was also part of this), however digital assets needed to be considered and would greatly beneficial going forward.

In terms of Accreditation of Archives, this was still ongoing and would be submitted in July 2021.

An update would be brought back to the committee in September/October 2021.